The initiation of rapid or saccadic eye movements depends in part on the basal ganglia. An analysis of the discharge of single neurons in the substantia nigra, pars reticulata, which can be regarded an an important output from the basal ganglia, has shown that these cells discharge in relation to visually-guided saccades. Cells have now been identified which discharge when a saccade is made to a previously present spot of light--to a remembered target. The decrease in discharge rate is related to the visual stimulus that must be remembered, to the saccade to that remembered stimulus, or to both of these events. Many of these cells in the substantia nigra have been shown to project to the superior colliculus by showing that they can be antidromically activated from the superior colliculus. These experiments show that the substantia nigra is involved in the initiation of saccades, particularly those saccades to visual or remembered visual targets.